Friday, January 16, 2009

Paul McCartney: 222

Memory Almost Full, Paul McCartney's 2007 debut on the Starbucks label, Hear Music, was a fairly ignorable addition to his canon. The whole album felt like it'd been manufactured as background noise, suitable for the coffee juggernaut's daily customers to maybe acknowledge as they blithely stir mini whirlpools of half n' half into their respective and overpriced morning staples.

But, the sessions did prove fruitful in one sense. I'm personally thankful for the song "222," which was featured as a B-side on the bonus edition of Memory Almost Full, (along with two other tracks that were also much better than most of the album). McCartney, however you feel about him, has these shining moments of brilliance that almost excuse his past musical sins (and there have been many). It seems that these moments occur when McCartney's not trying to be McCartney. When he drops his typically overjoyed and diplomatic facade, the artist seems to make an appearance.

McCartney performed all of the instruments on this song, crafting a mostly instrumental piano piece around hi-hat tapped percussion and McCartney's romantically whispered observations about some anonymous female. It's almost sort of a jazz ballad. Gorgeous track and easily one of his least McCartney-esque. I remember being amazed that this came from him.